Rotary gas engine of the reaction type



April 13, 1948. c, COOKE 2,439,717

' V ROTARY GA'SENGINE OF THE REACTION TYPE Filed May 31, 1946 .2 SheetsShaet 1 INVENTOR. 6. 61600752 WTTO/P/VEKS.

April 13, 1948. G c; COQKE 2,439,717

ROTARY GAS ENGINE OF THE REACTION TYPE Filed May 31, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 .vrJ

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Patented Apr. 13, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ROTARY GAS ENGINE OF THE REACTION TYPE Grady Carlyle Cooke, Winston-Salem, N. C.

Application May 31, 1946, Serial No. 673,660

1 4 Claims.

This invention relates to rotary engines of the reaction type, one of the objects being to provide a new and novel arrangement of rotor and stator blades which operate as compressors for the purpose of forcing the fuel mixture into a rotatable compression chamber from which the gases are intermittently delivered into a rotor having outlet nozzles positioned where they will deliver jets of exhausting gases against stationary blades for the purpose of driving the rotor as a result of the reaction force created.

A further object is to provide an automatic valve mechanism and ignition mechanism controlled by the operation of the rotor whereby the supply of fuel to the combustion chamber within the rotor is cut ofl immediately prior to each explosion, the valve and the ignition means being operated in properly timed relation bythe rotating parts of the engine.

With the foregoing and otherobjects in view which will appear as the description proceeds,

the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully described .and pointed out in the claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawing,

Figure 1 is an elevation of the engine.

Figure 2 is a central vertical longitudinal section on line 2-2, Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a section On a reduced scale taken on the line 33, Figure 2 showing one of the rotor disks.

Figure 4 is a section on a reduced scale taken on line 4-4, Figure 2 showing one of the stator disks.

Figure 5 is a section on line 5-5, Figure 2.

Referring to the drawings by characters of reference, I designates a base on whichis mounted the housing or stator of the engine, this being indicated at 2. The heads of this housing provide bearings 3 in which is rotatably mounted a tubular shaft- 4, one end of which is fixedly joined to and opens into a rotor 5 which is hollow to, form a combustion chamber '6. This combustion chamber has outlet nozzles 1 at its periphery which can be spaced apart any desired distance and all of which are adapted to deliver products of combustion against the inner surfaces of an annular series of stationary blades ii carried by the stator I and forming a part of a turbine the opposed cooperating unit of which consists of an annular series of spacedblades 9 carried by the rotor 5. Thus the reaction force created by the discharge of gas under pressure against the blades 8 and the escape of the gas under pressure from between the blades 9 'will result in the rotor 5 being driven in one direction. I

The shaft 4 contains a compression chamber I 0 the outlet end of which is formed with a seat II normally engaged by valve I2 which is carried by a rod I3. This rod is extended longitudinally of the shaft 4 at the center thereof and extends beyond one end of the shaft where it carries a compression spring I4 which serves to-hold valve I2 normally to its seat I I. This projecting end of rod I3 is also normally engaged by one arm I5 of a lever I6 which is fulcrumed. as at I'I on a bracket I8 carried by the stator. The other arm I9 of the lever I 8 can be providedwith an anti-friction roller 20 positioned where it can be engaged by an eccentric2l mounted on the projecting end of shaft 4 and rotatable therewith. Thus as the shaft rotates this eccentric orcam 2I will cause the lever It to rock with the result that the rod II and valve I2 will be shifted back and forth to intermittently open the valve. A

spring 22 interposed between stator I and arm I9 serves to resist movement of the lever by the cam or eccentric.

A contact 23 on bracket I8 is grounded to the stator while another contact 214, which is insulated from and carried by lever I6, is e1ec-- trically connected as at 25 to the impact side of a spark plug 26 carried by the rotor 5 at the center thereof and rotatable therewith. A swivel connection 21 is provided between. the spark Obviously, by

plug and the connection 25. properly proportioning and timing the parts, valve I2 can be caused to close immediately prior to closing the circuit to the spark plug and after inner side of one of the heads of the stator. These blades are all extended toward one end of the stator and all of them are curved along lines diverging away from the axis of rotation of the v 3 shaft 4. All the blades are also spaced from said shaft.

Secured to and carried by shaft 4 so as to rotate therewith are spaced disks 3| and 32. Disk 3| is extended'between partition 30 and that head of the stator carrying the blades 29 while disk 32 is extended between the blades 28 and the other head of the stator. Each of these disks has an annular series of curved passageways 33 leading from points adjacent to the shaft 4 outwardly along curved lines to points adjacent to the annular wall of the stator. Each of these passageways 33 is adapted to receive a fuel mixture at a point adjacent to the shaft and to deliver it by centrifugal force between the outer ends of the adjacent blades 28 or 29.

Ports 34 maintain communication between the compression chamber In and the space between disk 3| and the adjacent stator head.

In practice, the fuel mixture is admitted into the stator at a point between disk 32 and the adjacent stator head from a suitable carburetor 35 having the usual controlling or butterfly valve a portion of which has been indicated at 36.

Assuming thatthe shaft 4 and the parts carried thereby are rotating, it will be apparent that the explosive mixture delivered into the stator will be thrown outwardly through the passages 33 into the spaces between blades 28 which, in turn, will force these gases inwardly so that they will be delivered into the inner ends of the next series of passages 33. The rotation of the disks 3| and 32 and their passages will result in a building up of pressures within the stator, as will be apparent, with the result that when the explosive mixture reaches the far end of the interior of the stator, it will be discharged under excessive pressure through the ports 34 into the compression chamber Ill. Here the mixture will be held under compression until such time as the valve 12 is opened, whereupon the explosive mixture will rush into the chamber 6 and as soon as valve 12 has been closed, the mixture will be ignited by the spark plug 26. The generated gases will escape under very high pressure through the nozzles I and the jets thus delivered will be directed between the stationary blades 8 and movable blades 9 of the turbine. Consequently, a reaction force will be set up which will result in operation of the rotor 5, its shaft 4 and other parts joined thereto, at a high speed. As these parts rotate the cam or eccentric 2! will effect actuation of valve 12 and the making and breaking of the ignition circuit at properly timed intervals. As shown in the drawings, the blades 9 can work in a stationary circular manifold 31.

What is claimed is:

1. A rotary engine including a stator, a shaft journaled therein having a compression chamber. a rotor carried by the shaft and having a combustion chamber, means for supplying an explosive mixture to the stator, cooperating fixed and rotatable means carried by the stator and the shaft respectively for directing said explosive mixture under increasing pressure from the stator to the compression chamber, a valve normally closing communication between the compression chamber and the explosion chamber, and separate means controlled by the rotation of the shaft for intermittently actuating the valve and intermittently exploding the charge in the combustion chamber in properly timed relation.

2. A rotary engine including a stator, stationary annular series of curved blades within th nozzles carried by the rotor, and cooperating annular series of blades carried by the stator and rotor and positioned to receive therebetween gases delivered under pressure from the nozzles, thereby to drive the rotor in one direction, disks rotatable with the shaft and lapping the respective series of blades, each of said disks having an annular series of passages opening therethrough and having inlets at their inner ends and outlets at their outer ends, said outlets being positioned to deliver gas under pressure against the adjacent blades, means for directing a combustible mixture into the stator at one end thereof, said disks and blades cooperating to forcibly move said combustible mixture from one end to the other of the stator and to increasingly compress the said combustible mixture during such movement, a compression chamber in the shaft and in communication with the interior of the stator for receiving said combustible mixture under pressure from the stator, and means controlled by the rotation of the shaft and rotor for successively opening and closing communication between the compression chamber and the explosion chamber and igniting said combustible mixture in the explosion chamber.

3. A rotary engine including a. stator, spaced annular series of arcuate blades within the stator and extending inwardly toward the center thereof, a shaft journaled within the stator and having a compression chamber in communication with the interior of the stator, means within the stator.

and rotatable with the shaft for driving gaseous fuel under gradually increasing pressure from one end to the other of the stator and into the compression chamber, said means including disks lapping the respective series of blades, there being passages within each of the disks extending along curved lines from points adjacent to the centers of the disks to points adjacent to the peripheries of the disks, said passages having outlets located to direct said gaseous fuel against the adjacent blades and said blades, being located and pitched to direct said gaseous fuel delivered thereto inwardly toward the axis of rotation at increasing pressure, a rotor carried by the shaft and opening into the compression chamber, marginal nozzles carried by the rotor, annular concentric series of blades adjacent to the nozzles and carried by the stator and rotor respectively for receiving therebetween escaping gases delivered through the nozzles, a valve normally closing communication between the interior of the rotor and the compression chamber, and separate means controlled by the rotation of said shaft and rotor for opening and closing the valve and for igniting the contents of the rotor when the valve is closed, and means for directing said gaseous fuel into the stator.

4. A rotary engine including a stator, spaced annular series of arcuate blades within the stator and extending inwardly toward the center thereof, a shaft journaled within the stator and blades, there being passages within each of the disks extending along curved lines from points adjacent to the centers of the disks to points adjacent to the peripheries of the disks, said passages having outlets located to direct said gaseous fuel against the adjacent blades and said blades being located and pitched to direct said gaseous fuel delivered thereto inwardly toward the axis of rotation at increasing pressure, a rotor carried by the shaft and opening into the compression chamber, marginal nozzles carried by the rotor, cooperating annular series of spaced blades adjacent to the nozzles and carried by the stator and rotor respectively for receiving escaping gases delivered through the nozzles, a valve normally closing communication between the interlor o! the rotor and the compression chamber, and separate means controlled by the rotation of said shaft and rotor for opening and closing the valve and for igniting the contents of the rotor when the valve is closed, and means for directing a gaseous fuel into the stator. said valve opening means including a cam rotatable with the shaft, a lever positioned for actuation by the cam, yielding means for holding the lever in working engagement with the cam, yielding means for holding the valve and lever normally in said predetermined position, and ignition cir-.

cuit controlling means including a movable contact carried by the lever.

GRADY CARLYLE COOKE. 

